<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Child-Rearing on Bison-Back by wordbender (singingwithoutwords)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325437">Child-Rearing on Bison-Back</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingwithoutwords/pseuds/wordbender'>wordbender (singingwithoutwords)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Important Skills for Saving the World [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(gdi this was supposed to be fluffy), (no children are killed in the story but it is a topic that comes up so), Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:01:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingwithoutwords/pseuds/wordbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gaang find a baby.  Toddler.  There’s some debate on which.  There is zero debate on getting this kid a harness so he stops almost falling out of Appa’s saddle in flight.  None of them need that level of terror in their lives.</p><p>(Zuko is de-aged and the Gaang unknowingly adopt him AU because why the heck not)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Yue (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Important Skills for Saving the World [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>190</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>861</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello I am here to crash your fandom party with my weird AU ideas, please enjoy this fic.</p><p><b>Warnings</b><br/>This chapter contains multiple oblique references to child abuse as well as brief, not graphic discussion of the deliberate murder of war children.  Proceed with caution if any of the above might be upsetting/triggering for you.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun had nearly set by the time Sokka sent Appa into a shallow downward spiral that ended in a clearing next to a stream.  They hadn’t gotten as far as he would have liked, but it had been a long day for all of them - Appa included - and they needed rest a bit more than distance right now.</p><p>Appa landed with a muffled thud and a weary groan, and Sokka slid down to the ground with a pat and a tired ‘thanks, buddy’, while Aang and Katara dragged themselves out of the saddle with yawns a-plenty.</p><p>“I don’t even want to make a fire tonight, much less cook,” Katara complained, sighing.</p><p>“I don’t even wanna <em> eat </em>,” Aang replied with a sigh of his own.</p><p>“I feel ya,” Sokka agreed, stretching.  “But food is important.”</p><p>Katara and Aang groaned in unison at him.</p><p>“Okay, spooky and vaguely terrifying as that was, we still need to eat,” Sokka said.  “Tell you what, I’ll make a fire and you two figure out what we’ve got that doesn’t need cooking, okay?”</p><p>They both groaned at him again, but Katara shuffled over to their packs and Aang started tiredly airbending twigs into a pile, so Sokka felt that was a win for him.</p><p>Sokka dug out the spark rocks and shifted Aang’s twig pile into a better spot, then spent the next few minutes coaxing them into a small fire.</p><p>Aang came back with an armload of wood and set it down next to the fire, sitting heavily and staring into the flames.  Katara joined them a minute later with some fruit for Aang and pig-chicken jerky for her and Sokka.  Not exactly a feast, but better than going hungry.</p><p>They ate in silence and dragged out their bedrolls, setting them up around the fire.</p><p>“I’ve got first watch,” Sokka volunteered.  “You two get some sleep.”</p><p>They didn’t usually set a watch.  But while logic dictated that there was no way for Jet to follow them this far, logic wasn’t very comforting, and Katara and Aang both sagged slightly with relief.</p><p>“I’ll take second,” Katara promised around a yawn, burrowing down into her blankets.</p><p>“Thanks, Sokka,” Aang added, lying down and closing his eyes.</p><p>Sokka sat on his own bedroll, absently feeding the fire twigs and branches here and there, one ear on the forest around them.  He didn’t expect to hear anything, but just in case…</p><p>An hour or so later, Sokka was on the edge of dozing off when he heard a twig snap somewhere to his right, close by.  Sokka reached for his boomerang.</p><p>Whatever it was wasn’t even trying to be quiet, snapping twigs underfoot and shoving through underbrush.  Might be danger, might be breakfast.  Sokka shifted slightly, just in case he needed to go on the offensive.</p><p>A kid blundered out of the shadows and tripped over the edge of Appa’s tail.</p><p>Sokka stared.</p><p>The kid struggled back upright, staring down at Appa’s tail, then laughed and patted it with both hands.  “Fluff!”</p><p>Appa lowed and lifted his tail slightly, bringing the kid with it.  The kid shrieked in delight, which woke up Katara.</p><p>“Whza’?” she asked, yawning and sitting up, staring around in bewilderment.</p><p>“We have a visitor,” Sokka said, pointing at Appa’s new tiny friend, now fully on his tail.</p><p>Katara blinked several times, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again.  “Is that a <em> baby </em>?” she asked.</p><p>“Pretty sure once they start walking, they’re toddlers,” Sokka replied automatically, letting go of boomerang and standing up.</p><p>Katara scoffed and rolled her eyes, standing up as well.  “So not important, Sokka.”</p><p>“Being right is very important, Katara,” Sokka disagreed.</p><p>The kid looked up, finally seeming to realize there was more to life than Appa’s tail, and waved cheerfully with both hands.</p><p>“Hi, there,” Katara said, waving back.  “What’s your name, sweetie?  Are you lost?”</p><p>“Zoo.”</p><p>“No, sweetie, this isn’t a zoo,” Katara said in her best mom voice.  “This is our camp, and that’s our air bison Appa.”</p><p>“Ah-puh,” the kid repeated brightly.</p><p>“Yes, Appa.  It’s nighttime and Appa’s very tired, though, so we should let him sleep.”</p><p>The kid pouted.  “Fluff,” he - Sokka was gonna go with ‘he’ for now - protested.</p><p>“My blankets are also fluffy,” Sokka spoke up.  “And it’s nice and toasty over here.  You’ve gotta be cold in that… shirt.”</p><p>Because now that he was looking, it looked like the kid was wearing a shirt.  <em> Just </em>a shirt.  A dirty shirt that looked too big for Sokka, nevermind a toddler, and nothing else.</p><p>The kid considered that as Appa lowered his tail back to the ground, then tumbled his way off and tottered toward the fire.  As in the actual fire itself.  Sokka wound up having to grab him to keep him from tripping headlong into it.</p><p>Up close, the kid was even dirtier than Sokka had thought, and a lot of what he’d initially thought was dirt now looked a disconcerting lot like bruises instead.  There were scrapes on his limbs, too, and it was hard to tell on the red fabric, but some of the stains on his shirt looked a bit too close to blood for Sokka’s comfort.</p><p>Katara was yawning again, and hadn’t gotten a good close look at the kid.  She needed sleep, and Sokka knew his sister well enough to know that she wasn’t going to get any if she started thinking the things Sokka was thinking, so he made an executive decision as the leader of their little gang.</p><p>“Go back to sleep,” he said.  “I’ll look after him.”</p><p>Katara glared suspiciously at him, then yawned again.  She wavered for a moment, then nodded and laid back down.</p><p>Sokka sighed, looking down at the toddler still in his arms, who was still making grabby hands at the campfire.</p><p>“Okay, little guy,” he said, sighing.  “Let’s see about a bath and some better clothes for you.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Sokka woke Katara for second watch and handed her the sleeping baby, who was now wearing one of Sokka’s spare shirts, tucked and tied to cover him properly.  Then he wished her good night and practically dove into his bedroll.</p><p>Katara rolled her eyes at her brother’s weird antics, sitting up properly and taking her first good look at their little guest.</p><p>The entire bank of the stream and quite a bit of water beyond it bristled into ice.</p><p>There were bruises on the baby’s face.  There were bruises on his arms, too, and his legs, and scrapes on his hands and feet.  Sokka had obviously made an effort to clean him up, but that just made the injuries stand out even more against the poor baby’s pale skin.</p><p>The only thing that kept her from screaming was the fact that it would wake up the baby.</p><p>Katara wrestled herself back under control.  It… she obviously wasn’t an expert, but she didn’t <em> think </em> any of them looked deliberate.  Most of them could easily have been gotten just by falling down.  Or walking through a forest alone with no shoes or proper clothes on.  So probably not abused, just abandoned.  Or lost.  Lost was better.  She could handle lost.  They could get him safely back to his family and not have to worry if all he was was lost.</p><p>“Spirits,” she muttered to herself, concentrating on dispelling the ice she’d created.  No wonder Sokka had shot into bed like he was diving for cover.</p><p>The baby babbled sleepily against her neck.</p><p>Katara came perilously close to cooing.</p><p>She settled herself and the baby more comfortably and prepared to sit her watch.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The baby woke up just as the sun was peeking over the treetops.  He was fussy, but not loud-fussy, and Katara had nodded off during her watch, so she wasn’t too annoyed about being woken up, especially when it <em> wasn’t </em>by a baby screaming in her ear.</p><p>Aang was already up, staring down at Katara and the baby in fascination.  “When did we get a baby?” he asked.</p><p>“Last night,” Katara said, sitting up carefully.  “He was wandering in the woods all alone.”</p><p>“Aw,” Aang said sympathetically.  “What’s wrong with him?”</p><p>“Probably hungry,” Katara guessed.  “Is that it, sweetie?  Do you want some food?”</p><p>“Food,” the baby whined, nodding.</p><p>She’d thought it had just been the darkness and the firelight, but with the sun now up, it was hard to deny that the baby’s soft, silky hair was jet black.  And his skin really was incredibly pale, it didn’t just look that way because of the bruises.  And the pleading eyes pouting up at her were actual gold, no two ways about it.</p><p>The baby was Fire Nation.</p><p>“Katara?” Aang asked, startling her out of her thoughts.  “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Katara said quickly.  “I was just thinking he probably doesn’t want to wait long enough for something to cook and the jerky’s probably too tough for him.”</p><p>“He can have some of my rations,” Aang offered brightly.  “Do you like peaches, baby?”</p><p>“Toddler,” Sokka interrupted from somewhere underneath his blankets, probably not even actually awake yet.</p><p>Katara ignored Sokka.  “Only one way to find out,” she said to Aang, pasting a smile on her face.  “Maybe give him some other stuff, too, just to see what he likes?”</p><p>Aang nodded eagerly and hopped over to their supplies.</p><p>The baby was Fire Nation.  The baby was a Fire Nation baby.  A Fire Nation <em> baby </em>, that was the important part.  Katara hated the Fire Nation, but she wasn’t a monster: she wasn’t going to take it out on a little kid.  Especially not with Jet still fresh in her memory and the horror of what she’d almost done because of him.</p><p>“You’re safe with us,” she promised softly, and she meant it.  She’d make sure that was true, no matter what.</p><p>Aang bounded back with a cloth full of berries and other fruits, and Katara let herself be distracted by trying to keep the baby from making <em> too </em> big a mess.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>They got a later start than usual that day.  Packing up camp took longer when they had to keep track of the kid, not to mention the potty breaks and the fact that he didn’t seem to understand what the word ‘danger’ meant.  He almost fell in the fire before they put it out.  He did fall into the stream twice.  He, adorable innocent menace that he was, <em> wanted to pet a badger-viper </em>.</p><p>Even Aang got heart palpitations over that one.</p><p>And to top it all off, when they were all set and Sokka passed him up to Katara, he had to immediately catch him again when he pitched himself right back out of the saddle.  The sequence had to be repeated twice before Katara figured out she had to not let go of him once he was up there.</p><p>They did eventually make it into the air, with Aang at the reins and the kid firmly held in Sokka’s lap.  He was pretty good-natured about the whole thing, really; after some initial squirming and fussing, he mostly just sat there clumsily petting Momo and babbling to him.  Momo took it like a champ; Sokka made a mental note to get him some of the fancy fruit as a reward.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Several hours and many potty breaks later, just as the sun was starting to set again, they finally spotted a town.  It was decently-sized, with plenty of open grass around it for Appa to land on and what looked like a bustling market.  They could stop for supplies and find somewhere safe to leave the kid, then maybe get a bit further north before they stopped for the night again.</p><p>Aang landed Appa well away from any fields that looked cultivated and hopped to the ground.  Katara checked her shopping list one last time, then climbed out, taking the kid so Sokka could follow.  They left Momo in charge and entered town together, and for once Aang didn’t immediately run off on them.  Katara took the lead, with Aang a step behind her and Sokka bringing up the rear carrying the kid.</p><p>They made it through two vendors and about half their coin before the kid patted Sokka’s chest and whispered, “Down.”</p><p>Sokka set him down, ready to grab him if he tried to run off, but he just shifted closer and pressed himself against Sokka’s leg, as if trying to hide.</p><p>Which was about when Sokka realized they were being stared at.</p><p>The stares were <em> not </em>friendly.</p><p>“Can we help you folks?” Sokka asked pointedly, resting a reassuring hand on the kid’s head.</p><p>“That coal child a relative of yours?” one of the townsfolk, a burly man with arms almost as big around as Sokka’s torso, asked, glaring down at the kid like he’d done something wrong.</p><p>“No,” Katara said with a frown, moving to stand so that the kid was subtly sandwiched between her and Sokka.  Her tone was very ‘giving you the benefit of the doubt against my better judgment, so don’t push me’.  “We found him in the woods last night.  We think he might have gotten lost.”</p><p>Someone else snorted like that was somehow funny.</p><p>“Spawn like that don’t <em> get </em> lost,” a reedy woman with greying hair spoke up.  “They <em> are </em> lost.”</p><p>“We weren’t going to just leave him out there all alone!” Katara protested.  Sokka wished he’d thought to bring his boomerang with him.</p><p>“Why not?” the burly man asked.</p><p>Katara’s tone flipped straight to outraged disbelief.  “Are you seriously asking why we didn’t leave a <em> baby </em>to die in the woods?” she demanded, fists clenched and shaking at her sides.</p><p>“I mean, how could anybody do that?” Aang chimed in, stepping up behind the object of their discussion and bending down to wrap his arms around him.  “He’s just a little kid.”</p><p>“Then maybe your bleeding heart should’ve put it out of its misery,” the reedy woman snapped, and every bucket and barrel of water on the street erupted at once, knocking over several displays and a vegetable cart or two in the process.</p><p>“You- you- <em> horrible people! </em> ” Katara yelled, while water rained down all over the street around her.  “ <em> How dare you! </em>”</p><p>Several people cursed, and a few backpedaled away from Katara’s fury.</p><p>“How <em> dare </em> you,” Katara seethed, and if Sokka didn’t know that the skinny airbender next to her was the Avatar, he’d have sworn she was a heartbeat away from entering the Avatar State.  “How <em>dare</em> you stand there and talk that way about killing a <em>child!</em>  I don’t care what element he comes from, he’s a defenseless innocent <em> baby! </em>”</p><p>The only person stupid enough not to be cowed was the burly man, who planted his feet and crossed his massive arms.  “Look here, little girl-”</p><p>Katara gestured sharply, sweeping up the water puddling on the street and freezing the jerk in ice up to his shoulders.  “<em> Shut up. </em>”</p><p>“We,” Sokka announced, “Are going to finish shopping.  Then we’re leaving.  If you’re lucky,” he added to the burly man, “my sister will unfreeze you before we go.  C’mon, kiddo.” He stooped, picking the kid up and holding him close, and he sadly didn’t have to wonder how the kid had known to be frightened of the villagers’ hostility, or why he was shaking with near-silent sobs against Sokka’s shoulder.</p><p>No one asked them for money.  Katara didn’t offer any.</p><p>She did unfreeze the jerk.  Not that he deserved it.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The kid was still with them when they made it back to Appa, loaded down with more than they’d intended to get.  None of them spoke until they were back in the air, the village dwindling in the distance.</p><p>Sokka sighed, carefully shifting the kid in his lap.  He’d cried himself to sleep, and Sokka didn’t want to wake him up.  “What now?”</p><p>“We could try another village,” Aang suggested, with none of his usual optimistic enthusiasm.  “Maybe the next one will be friendlier?”</p><p>“They might just be better at hiding their hate, though,” Katara said.  “I don’t think I could trust anyone in the Earth Kingdom with him.”</p><p>“So what, we take him to the North Pole with us?” Sokka asked.  “I’m sure the Northern Water Tribe will be <em> thrilled </em> about that.”</p><p>“What else can we do?” Katara demanded.  “We can’t risk ourselves taking him to anyone Fire Nation, and they’d just raise him up to be another monster, anyway.”</p><p>“And I guess we wouldn’t ever really be sure that anyone we left him with here would really take care of him,” Aang admitted.</p><p>Sokka sighed, but he couldn’t really argue with either of them.  They couldn’t go near the Fire Nation without risking Aang’s safety, and Sokka was already attached enough that he didn’t want to see the kid become just another faceless Fire Nation soldier.  And he honestly wouldn’t trust anyone in the Earth Kingdom not to hurt the kid because of who he’d been born from.  The only option they really had at the moment was to take him along.</p><p>“If we’re gonna be keeping him around, we should probably name him,” he said.</p><p>“What about Kuzon?” Aang suggested.  “I used to have a friend named Kuzon.”</p><p>“Eehh...” Sokka said, glancing at Katara.</p><p>“It’s a bit too Fire Nation-y, Aang,” Katara said gently.  “We should probably pick something that’ll let him blend in a bit better.”</p><p>“Oh.  Right,” Aang said, putting on his thinking face.</p><p>“Nuktuk?” Katara offered, then shook her head.  “No, that’s way too Water for him.”</p><p>“Li?” Aang suggested.  “It used to be pretty common in the Fire Nation <em> and </em>the Earth Kingdom, so it works both ways.”</p><p>“Hmm,” Sokka said, studying the napping toddler in his lap.  “He does kind of look like a Li, doesn’t he?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Katara agreed.  “So I guess we’ll call him Li for now.”</p><p>“Great,” Aang said, smiling brightly.  “I’ll start keeping an eye out for places to set up camp; Li needs his sleep.”</p><p>“Thanks, Aang,” Katara said, stealthily sliding Li from Sokka’s lap into hers.  “Sokka, can you start stowing the shopping?” she asked with a sweet innocent smile.</p><p>Sokka scowled at her, but obediently slid to the jumble of things they’d gotten in town.  Let her hold Li for now; Sokka would get him back just when she least expected it.</p><p>If it was a custody battle his sister wanted, then so be it.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Iroh hummed, studying the untidy little clearing.  There was Zuko’s pack and Zuko’s armor and Zuko’s dagger, but no sign at all of Zuko.</p><p>Zuko hadn’t come back to the ship last night.  Iroh hadn’t been worried then.  Zuko often vanished for a night, slipping back aboard the <em> Wani </em> in the early hours of the morning, sometimes with a new lead, sometimes with only new bruises.  Zuko never spoke of these midnight jaunts of his and Iroh never pressed him.</p><p>He regretted that now.</p><p>Zuko hadn’t returned by dawn, or midmorning, or midday.  Iroh had ordered a search of the town and nearby woods, but all they had managed to find was a pile of Zuko’s things.</p><p>A pile of things, he couldn’t help but notice, that was covered in the mark of the spirits.</p><p>Iroh sighed, standing straighter.  “Recall the searchers,” he ordered.  “In the morning, begin again from here.”</p><p>“Sir,” Jee said with a nod.</p><p>“You go on back,” Iroh said with a smile he didn’t really feel.  “I’ll remain here a while.  Perhaps I will learn something more.”</p><p>Jee looked as though he wished to argue, but instead nodded again and left Iroh’s side.</p><p>Iroh sank to his knees on the ground, carefully lifting the dagger.</p><p><em> Spirits, </em> he prayed as respectfully as he could manage, <em> what have you done to my nephew? </em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos, guys!  Hopefully this chapter doesn't disappoint. ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Aang catapulted back to reality with a gasp, accusing echoes of </span>
  <em>
    <span>we need you</span>
  </em>
  <span> still ringing in his ears over the sound of his own panicked breathing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Momo, who’d been spending the night on Aang’s stomach, chittered his displeasure and hopped away, using Katara and Sokka as springboards.  Their complaining and Sokka’s nonsensical ‘did we get captured again’ were weirdly grounding, making it easier to pull himself away from that awful dream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aang?” Katara asked.  “Are you okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” Aang said, even though he neither felt nor sounded anything close to fine.  “Just a bad dream.  Sorry I woke you.” He forced himself to lie back down despite that being the absolute last thing he wanted to do, curling up with his back to the others so they couldn’t see his face.  “Go back to sleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Sokka said agreeably, and did just that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure you’re alright?” Katara asked.  “You’ve been having a lot of nightmares lately.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Aang insisted.  “I just need some sleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a worried silence for a long moment, like Katara wanted to keep pushing, but she didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead blankets rustled, and soft footsteps padded across the cave floor behind him.  Li had yet to learn the value of going around stuff instead of over it, and it was hard to obsess over a nightmare with a baby’s knee on his spleen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li completed his crossing of Mount Aang and sat on the ground, staring at him with too-serious golden eyes, frowning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m okay,” Aang assured him, deciding not to worry the kid about the whole spleen thing just yet.  “Really.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li frowned a bit more, then shoved himself into Aang’s arms and curled up against him, patting his cheek with one tiny hand.  “Nap.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aang couldn’t help but smile.  Li was a very bossy baby sometimes.  “Nap,” he agreed.  “Good night, Li.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zoo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Pretty sure they’re all closed right now,” Aang informed him, closing his eyes.  “We can try and find one in the morning.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li huffed.  Aang smiled wider.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, little guy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, Aang managed to drift off again.  His nightmares didn’t come back that night.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The morning dawned bright, sunny, and clear.  They packed up their things and started loading Appa, falling into their new routine, which included tasking Li with carrying Momo.  If Li was already holding one fuzzy animal, he was less inclined to go chasing other potentially far more dangerous fuzzy animals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The kid was a serious animal lover.  No wonder he was so obsessed with going to the zoo.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sokka stowed bags and Momo kept Li entertained, while Aang settled on Appa's head.  He seemed to be doing better than last night.  Katara was still worried about his nightmares, but she supposed they really were just dreams.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She did her usual morning inventory, which confirmed the same thing her inventory last night had: they were completely out of food.  She did not regret bringing Li with them in the slightest, but he was a growing boy, which meant he ate.  Sometimes a lot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Should be smooth flying today,” Aang commented to Appa.  He sounded better, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We better smoothly fly ourselves to a market, then,” Katara spoke up, helping Li onto Appa’s tail and walking him up to the saddle.  “Because we are out of food.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I blame Momo,” Sokka said.  Momo looked highly offended.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s a harbor not far out of our way,” Aang said.  “We can stop there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara swung Li up into the saddle itself and climbed in after him, sitting down.  “Sounds like a plan to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aang grinned over his shoulder at her, flicking Appa’s reins.  “Yip-yip!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Appa rose into the air, to the now-usual sound of Li’s delighted laughter.  There were definitely pluses to having a baby on board, and all the laughter was one of them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was slightly less of a plus when Appa banked to the right and Momo screeched in alarm, alerting them to the fact that Li was leaning dangerously far over the edge of the saddle, about three seconds from falling out of it entirely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Li, no!” Katara exclaimed, diving for him.  She and Sokka reached him at the same time, yanking him back to safety together.  “Why weren’t you holding him?” she demanded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why weren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>you?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Sokka shot back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought you were!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> were!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li hiccuped.  When Katara glanced down, his eyes were full of tears.  All anger-born-of-worry vanished.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh no, Li, it’s okay!” she assured him frantically.  “We’re not mad at you, I promise!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, little buddy, no one’s mad,” Sokka agreed.  “Sorry we yelled, we didn’t mean to scare you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li hiccuped again, but he did relax a little, and he didn’t start crying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara sighed, slumping back against their supplies without loosening her grip on Li.  “Okay, no more yelling around the baby,” she said.  “Agreed?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Toddler,” Sokka corrected.  “And agreed.  Also we need to add toddler-holding to our pre-flight checklist.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That or get him a harness,” Katara agreed, smiling as Li, tears and near-death experience both already forgotten, tried very unsuccessfully to grab Momo’s twitching tail.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of the flight passed uneventfully, and soon Appa was gliding down to land in the water next to a dock.  They all piled out and headed into the dockside market.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Katara said.  “We have some money left but not a lot, so we need to be careful about what we get.  We need food mostly, and I want to get Li some actual clothes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li was still dressed in Sokka’s repurposed shirt, because Katara had been too angry to think of getting proper baby supplies in that </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful awful town</span>
  </em>
  <span> they’d stopped in last.  They were making do so far, but that wasn’t fair to Li.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Food and baby clothes only,” Aang agreed with a nod.  He was the one carrying Li today; it looked a bit odd, given how short Aang was, but it was also kinda cute.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do </span>
  <em>
    <span>toddlers</span>
  </em>
  <span> even need to eat?” Sokka asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a good question,” Katara admitted, because she didn’t know.  She was fourteen and had no younger siblings, Gran-Gran hadn’t really given her parenting lessons yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fish is probably safe, right?” Sokka asked.  “Everyone ate fish in the village, even the little kids.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And he seems to like fruit a lot,” Aang added.  “So that’s probably okay, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a place to start at least,” Katara agreed.  “So we start with fish and fruit and go from there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boys shrugged their uncertain agreement, and they went in search of some fruit and some fish.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They drew a few stares as they walked.  It was hard to hide Li’s origins when he looked so much like Fire, so it wasn’t unexpected, just a bit uncomfortable.  As long as no one said anything to them, Katara resolved to just ignore it.  If anyone decided to be a horrible person, there was a whole harbor of water right there to teach them a lesson.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They found a fruit cart presided over by a sour woman who glared at them all but grudgingly helped them pick things that Li could eat, and even gave them some advice on how to prepare it for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A nearby vendor with a cart of fresh vegetables stopped them, and gave them a bit of a lecture on his wares and which were okay for kids.  He gave them a free bag of mushrooms after they’d paid, though, and the lecture </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>informative, so Katara made sure to thank him sincerely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fish was, of course, easy to find in a harbor market.  The fish vendor they settled on was less helpful than the other vendors, but he did give them a good price: Katara knew fish well enough to know they should not have gotten that much for how little coin they had left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That did, unfortunately, mean that once they’d paid for the fish, they had no money left at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No clothes this time?” Sokka guessed, peeking over Katara’s shoulder at their empty purse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No clothes this time,” Katara confirmed with a sigh, glancing longingly toward a perfectly visible tailor’s shop not ten feet away from where they stood.  “Sorry, Li.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zoo,” Li insisted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If we can’t buy you clothes, we definitely can’t go to the zoo,” Katara explained apologetically.  “We’ll just have to keep making do, I guess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe we should go in, anyway,” Aang said.  “Just to look.  It might give you some ideas on how to alter what we already have.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good idea, Aang,” Katara said, smiling at him.  Aang smiled brightly back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The shop was small and cluttered, full of slightly too many tables piled with fabric and clothing in a neat array of colors.  Some especially fine pieces hung on the wall as displays, showing off delicate lace and intricate embroidery that Katara couldn’t help but admire.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello,” the only other person in the store said.  She was a tall, whip-thin woman with thick dark brown hair, an apron tied around her waist and a pincushion tied to her wrist.  “Can I help you children?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re just looking, thanks,” Katara said with a polite smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t get many browsers in here,” the woman commented with an amused smile.  She gave them a good look-over, her eyes lingering on Aang and Li, and her smile slipped.  “Ah,” she said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah?” Sokka repeated.  “What, ah?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is the war child your brother?” she asked.  Katara would have bristled, except the woman’s tone was soft and gentle and understanding, rather than rude or hostile.  She said ‘war child’ like a simple sad fact and not an insult, and her dark brown eyes were kind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Katara said.  “We found him in the woods, and we couldn’t just leave him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The woman blinked in surprise.  “Oh,” she said.  “How kind of you.”  Again, no hostility or judgment, just sincerity and a bit of disbelief.  “I suppose you were hoping to get him clothing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara nodded.  “But we spent the last of our money on food, so we’re just looking for ideas right now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The woman smiled again.  “I can do you better than ideas,” she said, turning slightly to call over her shoulder.  “Xiu!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Mom?” a high young voice called back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bring me that crate of your old things, please!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Mom!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a sound like a herd of elephant-walruses stampeding through the back of the building, moving away and then coming back.  The source of the racket was a young girl about Aang’s age, dressed in a plain outfit of beige and pale green and carrying a large wooden crate.  She had the same dark hair and pale-brown skin as her mother, but when she hurried up to them, her eyes proved to be a deep luminous amber color.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here, Mom,” she said, presenting the crate, which looked to be full of fabric.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her mother smiled wider and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.  “Thank you, sweetheart.  Go put it by the fitting area.  What’s his name?” she asked, turning back to Katara.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Li.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zoo!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Buddy,” Sokka said, sighing.  “I promise we’ll visit a zoo just as soon as we can, okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He really likes animals,” Aang added.  “He’s been talking about zoos ever since we found him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xiu set the crate down and hurried back where she’d emerged from at what was apparently her usual speed and volume.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The woman smiled after her fondly, shaking her head.  “Let’s see if we can alter any of Xiu’s things to fit,” she said, ushering them toward the fitting area.  “I’m Yun, by the way.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m Katara.  This is my brother Sokka and our friend Aang.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very nice to meet you all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most of Xiu’s old things were predictably much too big for Li, but Yun was very good at what she did, and she was happy to show Katara how she hemmed and tucked so that the clothing could be let out again as Li grew.  Katara didn’t question whether or not Li would be with them long enough for that to be necessary.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d gotten two and a half outfits done by the time Xiu pounded back to the storefront again, arms full of toys this time.  They were much more battered than the clothing, obviously well-loved, but Xiu dumped them into the crate without a second thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li squealed excitedly and narrowly avoided being stabbed in the arm with Yun’s needle as he scrambled to the box and snatched up the topmost toy, a threadbare stuffed turtleduck, pulling it close against his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yun, still smiling, went back to hemming his sleeve, somehow getting Li to let her do the other one as well, then packed up her needle and thread.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I imagine you can do the rest, Katara,” she said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara nodded.  “Thank you, so much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yun laughed.  “There’s no need to thank me at all.  If anything, consider it </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>thanking </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  If you three are any indication of the next generation, we’ll be leaving the world in very good hands.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara blushed, ducking her head.  It was unusual for someone to praise them like that without even knowing Aang was the Avatar, to say the least.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you,” she said.  “Really.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yun smiled, reaching out and smoothing down Katara’s hair in a distinctly motherly gesture.  “Take care of each other,” she said.  “Spirits bless you all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you,” Katara said, bowing slightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t occur to her until they were back on Appa and lifting into the air that they probably could have left Li with Yun and Xiu without having to worry.  The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The sky was clear and sunny until it wasn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The storm moved in fast off the water, clouds scudding low and dark through the air on a wild, gusting wind.  The rain came on just as fast, in fat heavy drops that spattered against Appa’s saddle and stung where they hit flesh.  Katara bent a water shield over the saddle, pulling Li and his new favorite toy close just in case any rain got past her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aang, we should land!” Sokka called over the sound of the wind and rain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aang didn’t turn or call back, but he did pull on Appa’s reins, directing him closer to the cliff face.  It took a minute, but Katara did see what Aang was aiming for: a cave, the mouth big enough for Appa to fit through with no trouble.  Even if the cave beyond was too shallow for them to dismount, it was still better than being out in this weather.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cave proved to be much deeper than that, opening up into a sizable cavern with more than enough room to make a comfortable camp, even with Appa inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sokka appointed himself fire-builder, while Katara started picking out what to make for lunch, leaving Li with Aang, Momo, and his pile of new toys.  Everything was quiet and peaceful, except for the occasional crack of lightning and boom of thunder outside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li insisted on sharing his lunch with his new turtleduck and Momo, who was eyeing the turtleduck with suspicion and possibly disdain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After lunch came clean-up, then potty time, then naptime.  Katara might not know much about babies, but she did know they needed naps.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li wasn’t the biggest fan of naptime, since he usually wound up taking it in a corner of the saddle while in flight.  This made getting him to actually take naps kind of hard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, Li,” Katara coaxed, not wanting to grab too tight or pull too hard when Li still had all those bumps and bruises.  “Aren’t you sleepy?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!” Li said, then immediately yawned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Someone sounds sleepy to me,” Katara replied.  “Please?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!” Li repeated stubbornly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aw,” Aang said, walking past them carrying a blanket, and flopped down on Appa’s tail. “You mean I have to hang out on Appa’s fluffy tail all by myself?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fluff!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara had to scramble to maintain her balance when Li started dragging her toward the bison as fast as his little legs could go.  He shook her hand off and scrambled up on Appa’s tail, shoving himself up against Aang’s side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fluff.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever you say, little guy,” Aang said, giving Katara a thumbs-up before snuggling down with Li for some quality napping.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Thunder roared through the cave, competing with the century-old thunder that chased Aang back into the waking world once more, leaving him shaken and panting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li, who’d been curled up against his side, protested in a soft wordless babble that was lost under even more thunder that shook Aang down to his bones in a way noises just </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aang?” Katara asked anxiously, hurrying over to kneel on Appa’s tail, reaching out but not touching him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m-” he couldn’t even get the word out.  He sat up and tried to breathe deeply but just managed a few shaking gasping breaths.  “I’m-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please don’t say you’re fine,” Katara begged.  “You’re not.  I can tell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We all can,” Sokka seconded, coming over to sit next to Katara.  “Talk to us, buddy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was just a dream,” Aang tried to insist.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li was not having any of that, apparently.  He scooted around on his knees and leaned up, patting Aang’s cheeks gently with both hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sad,” he announced sadly, chubby little face frowning up at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Aang admitted, because how could anybody lie to that face?  “Yeah, I’m sad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li climbed firmly into Aang’s lap and hugged him.  Aang hugged him back automatically; it made him feel a little better.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is this about your dream?” Katara asked, and he nodded.  “Do you want to tell us about it?  It might help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aang sighed.  “I was dreaming about the storm,” he said, wincing at another crash of thunder.  “Not this one.  The one at the South Pole.  The one I got frozen in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katara shifted slightly, eyes on Aang still.  Sokka did the same.  Neither said anything, but they both gave the impression that they were listening, and they’d keep listening as long as it took.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you once that I didn’t want to be the Avatar.  I never told you why.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closed his eyes and tucked Li under his chin, taking comfort in the warmth and weight and the closeness of his friends, and he told them why.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The storm continued to rage outside the cave, sometimes almost drowning him out while he talked about being left out and excluded by the other boys, about the extra lessons and how strict the monks turned.  About Gyatso.  About the monks trying to separate them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was so scared that they’d take me away from Gyatso that I took me away from him for them,” he said, sighing.  “I never got to see him again.”  His earthly remains didn’t count; that wasn’t Gyatso anymore, just some bones and cloth he used to inhabit.  “Because I got stuck and the Fire Nation attacked the temple and I wasn’t there to help and-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aang,” Katara interrupted, putting her hand on his shoulder.  “That’s not your fault.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I wasn’t there!  My people needed me and I just-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Li’s right, Aang,” Katara said, squeezing his shoulder slightly.  “You’re being too hard on yourself.”  She sighed, and her hand slipped down his arm to take his.  “I think it was meant to be this way.  If you’d stayed, you would have been killed with all the other airbenders.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t know that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We kinda do, buddy,” Sokka disagreed.  “You’re the Avatar, sure, but you’re just one kid.  Katara’s probably right.” He shrugged.  “And in the end, it is how it is, and there’s no changing the past.  You’re here now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>We can’t concern ourselves with what was,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Aang said softly, reciting the words as Gyatso said them in his memories.  “</span>
  <em>
    <span>We must act on what is.</span>
  </em>
  <span>  Gyatso told me that, once.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds like a smart guy,” Sokka commented, scooting around so that he was sitting next to Aang, shoulder-to-shoulder.  “We should listen to him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess we should,” Aang said, glancing down at Li, still sitting in his lap with that adorable too-serious frown on his face.  “I’m okay now, buddy.  Promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li nodded once, then went back to his turtleduck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>None of them moved until the storm began to pass.  It felt nice, having his friends there for him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There was a rather obvious trail leading away from the clearing where Zuko’s things had been discovered, so obvious that at first Iroh wasn’t certain it was Zuko’s at all.  But there were bright fluttering threads caught here and there on branches, the same red as Zuko’s shirt, so it was worth following.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wandered almost aimlessly through the forest, crossing over itself a time or two before it finally ended at another clearing.  This one was bordered by a stream and had obviously seen recent use as a campsite.  Judging by the three pairs of large, deep footprints that could only have come from an air bison, it had been used by the Avatar’s group.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still, it was impossible to determine what direction they’d gone from the campsite.  Iroh left Jee with orders to search the surrounding area for any further clues and returned to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wani</span>
  </em>
  <span> to contemplate their next move.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He retired to his own cabin and prepared himself a cup of calming tea, sparing a slight smile for Zuko’s habitual reaction to being offered one, and sat down to meditate.  Perhaps the spirits would send him a sign.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He meditated for nearly an hour with no hint of an omen, nor any idea of what to do now; the polite knock on the cabin door was a welcome distraction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Enter.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Prince Iroh, sir?” Genji, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wani</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s hawker, said, stepping inside with a bow.  “I’ve got a report on the Avatar here for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Iroh nodded, sighing.  “Thank you,” he said.  “But I’m not concerned with the Avatar at the moment.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sir, I really think you’ll want to read this one,” Genji insisted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very well,” Iroh agreed.  A single report wouldn’t take much time, at least.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He accepted the folded paper from Genji and opened it, skimming through it before the phrase ‘Fire Nation child’ caught his eye.  Then he sat up straighter and went back to the beginning, rereading more thoroughly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Avatar, according to the report, had acquired a new travelling companion, a Fire Nation child.  The first sighting of said child had been the day after Zuko’s disappearance, in a village not out of bison range of where Zuko had disappeared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It could be Prince Zuko, sir,” Genji said, voicing Iroh’s thoughts exactly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, it could,” Iroh agreed, feeling somewhat giddy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zuko was not the sort of boy who would allow himself to be taken prisoner, nor to put off escape simply because it endangered him.  If Zuko was traveling with the Avatar, it must be of his own will.  Or the spirits’.  Their touch </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>been on his things, after all.  Perhaps they’d managed to reach his nephew when Iroh’s own gentle prodding had failed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could have crowed aloud with delight, if not for the need to maintain </span>
  <em>
    <span>some</span>
  </em>
  <span> dignity in front of the crew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Call everyone back to the ship,” Iroh ordered.  “We sail with the morning tide.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As pleased as he was at Zuko’s likely change of heart, Iroh freely admitted to being a doting, somewhat overprotective uncle; he would need to make certain of his nephew’s safety with his own two eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once more for Zuko’s sake - though in a very different way - Iroh would have to track down the Avatar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was at least able to appreciate the irony of the situation.  He wondered if Zuko would, too.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They continued traveling north, more or less.  Since Appa was doing all the lifting for them and Li was tiny, they weren’t losing any time; if anything, it felt like they were moving faster.  Li gave them things to do other than sit in the saddle and watch the clouds pass, so the days didn’t feel nearly as long.</p><p>“<em> Momo no! </em>”</p><p>Sokka glanced back at where Li sat in Katara’s lap, batting one hand at Momo and holding his stuffed turtleduck out of reach with the other.  For reasons unknown to any member of the party who was not Momo, Momo had declared war on the thing, and had spent the last few days trying to hide it or toss it overboard at every opportunity.  This was not a course of action with which Li agreed.</p><p>“Momo, knock it off,” Katara said, shifting to get a knee up between toddler and lemur, since her hands were occupied with combing Li’s hair.  “A little help here, Sokka?”</p><p>Sokka reached out, shooing Momo away.  “Seriously, Momo,” he said, sighing.  “What is your deal with the turtleduck?”</p><p>Momo chittered angrily at him before going to sulk on Aang’s shoulder.</p><p>Li grumped adorably, hugging his turtleduck with both arms.</p><p>“I don’t know what Momo has against that thing, but he’s got it bad,” Katara said, shaking her head.  “He doesn’t act that way about any of Li’s other toys.”</p><p>“Maybe he was attacked by a rabid turtleduck as a baby,” Sokka suggested.</p><p>Katara rolled her eyes and ignored him.  “Li, sweetie, are you hungry?  I think it’s almost lunchtime.”</p><p>“Yes please,” Li said immediately, nodding.  “Off?”</p><p>“Sure,” Katara said.  “Aang!” she called over the wind.  “Li wants to have lunch on the ground today!”</p><p>“Sounds like a plan to me,” Aang said agreeably.  “Lemme know if you see a good spot!”</p><p>“We will!  Sokka, start looking for places to land.”</p><p>“You always complain about the spots I pick,” Sokka complained.</p><p>“I can’t watch the baby and the ground at the same time, Sokka.”</p><p>“Then I’ll watch the toddler and you watch the ground,” he replied.  “Then you can’t complain that the beach I pick is <em> too sandy </em>.”</p><p>Katara huffed, handing Li over to his rightful parent.  “It took me <em> hours </em>to get all the sand off Li’s toys,” she informed him like she had at every opportunity for the past three days.</p><p>Sokka rolled his eyes.  “Your aunt’s a pain in the butt, kiddo,” he informed Li.</p><p>Katara decided to practice her glare while she kept a lookout.  Sokka practiced being unaffected by it.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Tracking Zuko and his new companions was more difficult than Iroh had anticipated.  The spirits seemed disinclined to aid Iroh in his search for his nephew, and Zuko had been by far the best tracker on the <em> Wani </em> at any point in their journey so far.  He supposed he could send inquiries to some of his White Lotus contacts, but he had no desire to reveal Zuko’s identity if he was choosing to keep it secret, and he knew the other Lotus masters would not share much if they believed it might get back to Zuko.</p><p>So in a way, he was grateful when a young lady on an unusual mount tore apart his deck to retrieve a stowaway no one else had even known was there.  A stowaway she had tracked by scent, over open water.</p><p>“Lieutenant,” he said once he was certain she was out of earshot, “tell the helmsman to follow the lady.  From a respectful distance, of course.”</p><p>“Of course, sir,” Jee replied with a bow, turning and striding off the deck, gracefully avoiding the rather large hole in the steel plating.</p><p>Iroh stayed where he was, watching the bounty hunter dwindle in the distance, and stroked his beard thoughtfully.  Perhaps the spirits were choosing to aid him, after all.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The <em> Wani </em> tailed its quarry to port.  Iroh chose to go ashore alone.  Many of the crew were unhappy, but didn’t object; Iroh might be old, but he was still the Dragon of the West, and he could take care of himself.  One old man drew less attention and hostility than an armed group, no matter what color said old man’s eyes happened to be.</p><p>He wandered the streets with apparent aimlessness, searching carefully, until he tracked the lady down at a tavern, arm-wrestling a man more than twice her size.</p><p>“Ah, there you are!” Iroh said cheerfully.  “You’re a difficult lady to find, you know.”</p><p>“Only if you suck at finding things,” she replied without glancing away from her opponent.  “What do you want, old man?”</p><p>“A moment of your time,” Iroh said, standing patiently where he was as she stopped toying with the poor man and finally claimed victory.  “To discuss the damage you did to my ship, and how you might repay it.”</p><p>“Unfortunately,” she said with a smirk, gathering up her substantial winnings, “I seem to be a bit short on cash at the moment.”</p><p>Iroh smiled back, letting a bit of the dragon peek through his politeness.  “It is fortunate, then, that money is not what I had in mind.”</p><p>She was a smart lady; her own smile vanished, and she looked at him with new eyes.  “I’m listening.”</p><p>“Your services,” Iroh said.  “My nephew is missing.  Find him for me, and I will not only forgive the damage done to my ship, I will also pay you your full fee for the contract.”</p><p>She was a bold woman, but again: smart.  Iroh could see her wanting to push, but she wouldn’t.  She knew what stood before her, and she was not greedy enough to chance a dragon’s wrath over mere gold.</p><p>“Deal,” she said, holding out her hand.  Iroh shook it warmly.  “I’m assuming you have something with his scent?”</p><p>Iroh nodded, withdrawing the dagger that had spent years never straying far from Zuko’s person.</p><p>She nodded sharply, turning to the door and gesturing for Iroh to follow.  “Then let’s go find your nephew.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Lunchtime turned into naptime turned into playtime turned into teach Li basic water safety time turned into dinnertime turned into bedtime for tired little toddlers.  A slow day now and then wasn’t really a bad thing, and it gave Aang and Katara more time to practice waterbending while Sokka got to play with Li in the sand.</p><p>Li was in Katara’s bedroll tonight, which let Sokka stay up a bit later.  It wasn’t that he felt the need to keep watch so much as a vague feeling that something was going to happen, and he wanted to be awake for it.</p><p>Aang eventually dozed off as well while Sokka sat by the fire.  He wasn’t sure if it was intuition or instinct - or what the difference was, really - but he still <em> knew </em> that something was about to happen.</p><p>His vigilance was rewarded after what felt like forever by the sound of someone moving toward them on the beach, almost lost under the sound of the surf.  Footsteps shuffled through the sand, and a very familiar man stepped into the firelight.</p><p>“Bato?”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Li didn’t like being woken up in the middle of the night, and he was fussy, but Sokka was really the only one who could pick him up without waking him, and Sokka was a bit preoccupied.</p><p>“I know, I know,” Aang said soothingly.  “Sorry, buddy.  You can sleep again soon, I promise.”</p><p>Katara and Sokka were both preoccupied, really, hastily breaking camp while they chattered at Bato, who was apparently one of the warriors who’d left to fight with their father.</p><p>Li grumped, clinging to Aang with one hand and his turtleduck with the other, and shoved his face against Aang’s neck.</p><p>“Ack!  Cold nose!  Cold nose!”</p><p>Katara snorted and Sokka laughed and it took Aang a second to realize they were looking at him and Li, not Bato.  In fact, Bato was looking at them, too.</p><p>“Where did you get a baby?” Bato asked curiously.</p><p>“<em> Ha! </em>” Katara exclaimed, pointing a triumphant finger at Sokka.</p><p>“Bato just didn’t know he can walk!” Sokka protested.  “Once they can walk, they’re toddlers!”</p><p>Bato laughed.  “You two can still make an argument out of anything, I see,” he commented, laughing again when Sokka and Katara both turned on him.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Bato returned from his nightly walk to check on his boat with visitors.  He had little attention for anything beyond the two Water Tribe children of his chief, which was understandable.  Mother Superior greeted them both in the scant space of their excited discussion before paying her respects to the Avatar, then turned her eyes to the fourth and final guest.</p><p>“And who is this?” she asked, leaning forward slightly so as not to tower over the Avatar and his companion.</p><p>“This is Li,” the Avatar explained brightly.  “We found him in the woods a few weeks ago, and we’ve been taking care of him.”</p><p>“A pleasure to meet you, Li,” she said kindly.  The torches cast somewhat biased lighting, but his pale gold eyes seemed almost to glow as he stared forlornly past her to where Bato was leading his other guests inside.  “If you wish to join your friends, we can put him to bed for you.”</p><p>“That’s okay,” the Avatar said.  “Li doesn’t sleep very well without us around.  Say good-bye, Li.”</p><p>Li waved one hand shyly at her as the Avatar stepped around her and hurried after the others, and she waved back.</p><p>“Mother Superior,” one of the younger nuns spoke up quietly.  “That child-”</p><p>“Yes,” she said.  “He is Fire.”  More than his curious eyes, dark hair, and pale skin, there was a warmth about the boy not unlike the gentle fire of the sun.  One learned to tell, by the time they reached her age.</p><p>“Then why-”</p><p>“He is barely more than an infant,” she cut the girl off with a soft rebuke.  “It is not our place or our way to condemn him for his parentage.”</p><p>“Yes, Mother Superior,” the girl said, bowing slightly in contrition.  “Forgive my unkind thoughts.”</p><p>“The spirits always do, child.  Go to the kitchens and fetch them some snacks, please, then bring them extra blankets.”</p><p>“Yes, Mother Superior,” she said, hurrying off.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Aang kept trying to get a word in edgewise, to be a part of the conversation, to get to know this guy who was obviously really important to his friends, but it was useless.  Nothing in the world existed for Sokka and Katara besides Bato.  Even Li didn’t exist.</p><p>Aang watched Sokka brush Li off with an absent <em> in a minute, little guy </em>, exactly like he had a minute ago, and sighed.  He almost wanted to call Sokka out for being a bad parent, but that would be mean.  They were just excited to see someone they knew from home, that was all, and it wasn’t fair to make a big stink about.</p><p>Aang got up, grabbing Li’s hand.  “C’mon,” he said, smiling down at the kid.  “I’ll take you potty.”</p><p>“Please,” Li said quietly, nodding, and Aang led him out of the dead-animal room.</p><p>“Okay, now we gotta find the potty,” he commented, glancing around for clues.</p><p>“Potty please,” Li said, loud enough that a passing nun heard him.  She smiled politely and pointed them in the right direction, and Aang made sure to thank her.  Just because Sokka and Katara were being rude didn’t mean he should be, too.</p><p>They took care of business, and Aang bent a globe of water for Li to wash his hands with, since he really liked playing with those, and maybe kind of stalled a bit on going back to be ignored some more, until Li yawned so hard he almost fell over.</p><p>“Yeah, good point,” Aang said, letting the water fall back into the bucket.  “Back to bed with you, little guy.  You’ve had a long day.”</p><p>Li nodded, making grabby hands, so Aang picked him up and carried him back, setting him on his feet just inside the door.</p><p>“-rendezvous point. If you wait until the message arrives, you can come with me, and see your father again,” Bato was saying as Li toddled unsteadily toward Sokka.</p><p>“That would be incredible!” Sokka exclaimed, not reacting at all when Li climbed into his lap.  “It’s been more than two years since we’ve seen Dad!”</p><p>“I do really miss him,” Katara added.  “It would be <em> great </em> to see Dad.”</p><p>Aang turned and left.  No one noticed, except for maybe Li.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“It would be great,” Sokka said, sighing.  “But we can’t.  We have to get Aang to the North Pole first.”</p><p>“Even if we had time to wait for the message, who knows how far we’d have to travel,” Katara agreed.  “Besides,” she added, glancing at Li curled up in Sokka’s lap with drooping eyes.  “I’m not sure if it would be wise to bring Li into the middle of a whole Water Tribe fleet.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Sokka said, wrapping an arm around Li.  “I mean I’m sure Dad would be okay with him, but...”</p><p>“But you worry about the other chiefs and warriors,” Bato finished, nodding.  “I’ll admit, I was surprised by him.  His origins are obvious.”</p><p>“But not his fault,” Katara said, chin stubbornly set the exact way it always was when she expected she’d need to yell at someone.</p><p>“But not his fault,” Bato agreed easily.  “Your worry is understandable, though, and I wish I could say it was unfounded.”</p><p>“So we can’t abandon Aang, and we can’t risk Li,” Sokka said, shrugging.</p><p>“I’m certain your father will understand,” he assured them, smiling.  “And be so proud of you both for your selflessness.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Aang was the Avatar and destined to save the world, but he was still twelve, and sometimes he did stuff that was very, very stupid.  Like not trusting his friends, and making it so they couldn’t trust him, either.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The worst of it, if Katara was honest, wasn’t that Aang had lied to them.  It wasn’t the deceit, or the betrayal, or even having to choose between Aang and her family.</p><p>The worst of it was that they couldn’t explain any of it to Li.</p><p>Li was still a baby.  He didn’t understand any of what was going on.  He just knew that they were leaving, and Aang wasn’t coming with them.  Li was such a good baby and didn’t throw a tantrum or yell, he just clung to Sokka and stared tearfully back at Aang by the abbey gates, whining very quietly.  Li hated being separated from any of them, and now there was no way for him to be with all of them, and that was the <em> worst </em>.</p><p>It probably said something that all it really took to make Sokka change his mind was a wolf howl and a few words of wisdom from Bato, but Katara was too grateful to care.  She turned back toward the abbey eagerly, then hesitated.</p><p>“What is it?” Bato asked.</p><p>“Part of me feels like Li should stay with you,” she confessed.</p><p>“Katara-” Sokka protested.</p><p>“We can’t just think about what we want, Sokka- we have to think about what’s best for Li.  This quest is really dangerous, and-”</p><p>“I understand the impulse,” Bato said.  “But he’s obviously very attached to you.  It would be cruel to leave him behind now.  I know you’ll keep him and each other safe.”</p><p>“You’re right,” Katara said, relieved.  She hadn’t wanted to leave Li, but if Bato had said it would be better, she would have.  She was glad they didn’t have to.  “Tell Dad we miss him.”</p><p>“Tell him we love him,” Sokka added.  “And maybe break the whole <em> you have a grandson </em> thing to him gently?  With full context and all important details?”</p><p>Bato laughed.  “I’ll do my best,” he promised.  “You’d better hurry, before your friend leaves without you.”</p><p>Katara nodded, giving Bato one last careful hug.  “Be safe.”</p><p>“You first,”</p><p>Katara stuck her tongue out at him, still smiling, then hurried back down the path with Sokka right beside her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Nyla came to a bend in the wide forest path, and there ahead of them, far enough that neither noticed them, were the Water Tribe children.</p><p>And there was Zuko.</p><p>The Zuko he saw was not what he expected.  The sullen teenager he had come here seeking was nowhere to be found.  The bright-eyed little boy who had not yet learned to fear the world, who used to greet him at the palace gates with eager and open affection, who sat on his knee and listened raptly to his stories of spirits and dragons, who had been lost to more than a decade of time’s inevitable flow, clung to the Water Tribe boy’s back, feet kicking happily in the air.  The touch of the spirits glowed softly on him, and even at this distance, Iroh could tell that he was smiling.</p><p>He kicked a little too hard and slipped, and the Water Tribe girl immediately reached out to steady him, moving him back into balance.  She ruffled his hair fondly, and Zuko laughed.  A loud, innocent, merry laughter that Iroh had all but forgotten, and it made his heart warm with fondness and bittersweet nostalgia.</p><p>Once upon a time, Lu Ten had carried Zuko that way, made interested noises at his wordless babble, laughed with him and steadied him in his youthful exuberance.  Once upon a time, before Ozai had sunk his claws too firmly into Zuko, Iroh had felt as though he had two sons, and he had lost them both: one to the war, one to the man fueling it.</p><p>Iroh wanted nothing more than to go to him, to take Zuko in his arms and keep him safe, allow him a better life.  But he couldn’t promise that.  For all his efforts and all his faults, Iroh knew deep down that if Ozai ordered him to, he might well give Zuko up again.  He was a man of many loyalties, some of which conflicted, and he knew there were those that held greater weight than his love for his nephew.  Whatever his intentions, so long as Iroh held him, Zuko would be in danger.</p><p>But if Zuko was not in Iroh’s possession, if Zuko was far away from Fire and safely in the hands of those who already pitted themselves against Ozai and would never give him up to his tyrant father?  Then Iroh’s loyalties would not harm him again.</p><p>Zuko let go with both hands and the girl again caught him, and all three laughed as the Avatar and his bison descended and the Avatar jumped down to the ground.  Iroh couldn’t hear what they said, but it ended in a hug, one which was arranged to include Zuko.</p><p>Zuko was safe with those three.  Safer than he might be with Iroh.  He was safe and obviously regarded fondly, if not outright loved.  Though it pained him, Iroh would not take that away from his nephew.</p><p>“Well?” June demanded impatiently. “Are we going to go get him, or what?”</p><p>“We are not,” Iroh said firmly.  “We are done here.”</p><p>“If you’re trying to cheat me, old man-”</p><p>“I asked you to find my nephew,” he reminded her.  “And found him, you have.  Zuko is in good hands, my heart is at ease, and your debt is repaid.  Let us go collect your fee.”</p><p>June eyed him suspiciously over her shoulder for a long moment before she finally nodded, turning Nyla around.  Iroh turned as well, to keep the little group of children on whom the fate of the world rested in his sights.  He would never have dreamed of another chance to see his beloved nephew unscarred, unbroken, and happy again, and he wanted to drink in as much of it as he could.</p><p><em> Spirits watch over them, </em> he prayed silently as the children disappeared between the trees.  <em> May they be strong enough - and the world kind enough - to see their task through. </em></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I have a <b> <em>what</em> </b>?” Hakoda demanded loudly enough that the entire ship - and quite possibly most of the nearest port - heard him.</p><p>Bato had promised to include all the important details.  He hadn’t promised to include them <em> up-front </em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> - other, equally capable parties have taken up the search for the Avatar, I would ask leave to concentrate my efforts on locating Prince Zuko instead. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I await your decision, brother. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Iroh signed the report, giving the ink time to dry, then sealed it, handing it off to Genji to be sent.</p><p>“When you’ve finished,” he said, “There is a crew-wide meeting in the mess hall.”</p><p>“Yes, sir,” Genji said with a bow, turning and heading back to his hawks.</p><p>“Would you be good enough to inform the rest of the crew?” Iroh asked Jee, who nodded and left without a word.</p><p>Iroh spent another ten minutes at his desk, not quite meditating, to give the crew time to assemble.  Then he rose and made his way to the mess hall.</p><p>As they were currently in port, the entire crew awaited him without exception.  They rose more-or-less as one and bowed before Iroh waved them back to their seats and moved to stand in a place where all could hear and see him well.</p><p>“Some of you may have heard by now that Prince Zuko is currently traveling with the Avatar,” he said without preamble.  “This is true, but there is more to the situation.  I tell you this now in confidence, and I hope my trust is not misplaced.”</p><p>He made certain to lock eyes, however briefly, with each member of the crew.  Each met his gaze with forthrightness.  He knew many of them were not fond of his nephew, but they respected Iroh, and he hoped that would be enough.</p><p>“For reasons of their own, the spirits have seen fit to return Prince Zuko to a child.  He currently travels with the Avatar as a toddler.”</p><p>Several people expressed shock, and one person barked a poorly-smothered laugh.  Iroh smiled indulgently.</p><p>“Indeed,” was all he said.</p><p>“This can’t get back to the capital,” Crewman Teruko stated after a moment.  Iroh liked her; she had a sharp mind and a dry wit, and she never shied from a hard truth, even when it skirted the lines of treason.</p><p>“It cannot,” Iroh agreed.  “It cannot pass beyond the hull of this ship.  Zuko is safe for the moment, but he will not be if his condition is widely known.”</p><p>Murmurs of assent ran through the gathering.</p><p>“I have chosen to inform Fire Lord Ozai that Prince Zuko is missing.  It would mean a great deal to me if you could all be counted on to support that claim.”</p><p>Some members of the crew exchanged glances, but all of them gave their word with no additional prompting.  Iroh knew why many of them had been assigned to this ship, and he felt they had been sorely misjudged.  They were as loyal as any citizen of Fire, perhaps even more so: their loyalty was simply hard-won, and all the stronger for it.</p><p>“I have asked for permission to search for my nephew, so that I am free to watch over him from afar.  I cannot be sure if it will be given, so I am informing you now that I intend to follow Zuko, permission or no.”</p><p>“Sir,” Helmsman Kyo spoke up, raising his hand like a schoolboy.  “What does that mean for us?”</p><p>“I will not order you to follow me,” he assured them.  “Nor will I order you not to.  The decision is yours, no matter what the Fire Lord’s decree, and I will bear you no ill will whatever you choose.”</p><p>Helmsman Kyo nodded, putting his hand down.</p><p>“I will leave you to discuss it,” Iroh said when no further questions were forthcoming.  “Please, take your time.  This is not a decision you should make in haste.”</p><p>The crew stood and bowed once more, and Iroh inclined his head in return before leaving the mess hall.  Some actual meditation would be a good way to pass the time.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Sokka had decreed that they needed to start landing early each day and finding a campsite on foot, so that Li wouldn’t have to keep falling asleep in the saddle, then being woken up to eat and bathe and then try to go back to sleep.  It was bad for his development, apparently.  It sounded fake, but Katara didn’t know enough about babies to dispute it, so the approach of sunset saw them walking, with Li being carried on Sokka’s back and a sullen Momo flitting through the trees above them, having once again been thwarted in his campaign of terror against Li’s turtleduck.</p><p>“Found the road,” Aang announced from not far up ahead.  “There’s a signboard, too.”</p><p>“Good,” Katara said.  “That should at least give us an idea of what’s around here.”</p><p>“See if you can find a menu,” Sokka quipped.  “I’m starving.”</p><p>Li tried to echo the ‘starving’, but wound up missing about half the consonants.</p><p>“I bet we’ll find some food here,” Aang said, pointing at one of the posters.  “The Fire Day’s Festival!”</p><p>“Fire Day’s Festival,” Sokka repeated, wandering to the other side of the board.  “As in a Fire festival.”</p><p>“Yup,” Aang said brightly.  “It says there’ll be cultural exhibits, jugglers, benders- this would be a great place for me to see some real firebenders!”</p><p>“Somehow I doubt that would end well,” Sokka said.  “Come look at this.”</p><p>Katara and Aang both moved to see what Sokka had found.</p><p>“Hey, a poster of me!”  Aang exclaimed, pulling it off the board for a better look.</p><p>“A <em> wanted </em> poster,” Sokka corrected.  “Wanted posters are bad, Aang.”</p><p>Katara bit her lip.  “Maybe Sokka’s right,” she said.  “Maybe we should keep moving.”</p><p>“But this might be my only chance to watch a master firebender up close!”  Aang protested plaintively.  Then he got that split-second devious look on his face that meant he was up to something.  “Besides, I bet Li would like to go.”</p><p>Katara glanced at Li, who was reaching over Sokka’s shoulder and trying to grab one of the other posters.  “You do have a point,” she conceded.</p><p>And she could admit - privately, to herself, where Sokka could never hear and thus never tease her about it - that she was kind of curious herself.  Since they’d picked up Li, she was starting to wonder if maybe everything Fire Nation wasn’t inherently bad.  Maybe the people of the Fire Nation were just people.  Maybe Li wasn’t so sweet <em> in spite </em> of his Fire blood: maybe he was so sweet because Fire babies could be sweet, too.</p><p>“Seriously?” Sokka asked.</p><p>“We could wear disguises,” Katara offered.  “And if it looks like trouble, we can just leave.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Sokka said sarcastically.  “Because we <em> always </em> leave before we get in trouble.  Will one of you please think of the child here?”</p><p>“But we <em> are </em>thinking of Li,” Aang insisted.  “This is his heritage!”</p><p>“C’mon, Sokka,” Katara said.  “The Fire Nation is part of Li, and it wouldn’t be right to keep him away from it forever.  You don’t want him to grow up hating half of himself, do you?”</p><p>Sokka groaned.  “You are <em> not </em> allowed to use my parental instincts against me,” he complained.  “Fine!  But we’re being <em> extra </em>careful, got me?  I’m not letting you put Li in danger.”</p><p>Aang cheered.  Katara at least made an effort not to look smug.</p><p>She didn’t <em> succeed </em>, but she did make the effort.  That had to count for something, right?</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Li, it turned out, was the best possible disguise they could have brought.  The only people who paid any attention to them were people who wanted to coo at Li or give him stuff.</p><p>Babies, Katara was discovering, were <em> great </em> for getting free stuff.  It helped that Li was ridiculously adorable even for a baby, wearing a light paper mask designed to be worn - and destroyed - by small children, remarkably similar to the one on that poster back at the signboard.  Katara thought it looked a bit menacing, but Li had picked it out himself, and the mask seller had complimented them on his sophisticated taste.</p><p>There was a puppet show (with some questionable content) and plenty of food (with way too much spice) and multiple firebending exhibits.  They managed to stay inconspicuous for a while, until one of the firebending performers pulled Katara onstage.  Then things kind of fell apart on them.</p><p>Luckily, Aang had brought his bison whistle along; between that and a friendly stranger, they managed to make it out of town alive and uncaptured.  After that, all they had to worry about was Li falling out of the saddle trying to get a better look at the fireworks.</p><p>So much for getting him to bed on time.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>In the end, Li didn’t get a chance to actually go to bed until much later, when they were settled into the camp of Jeong Jeong the Deserter, legendary firebending genius.  Sokka put him to bed in his own bedroll even though it was Katara’s turn, because <em> people who endanger the toddler do not get cuddle privileges, Katara! </em>, and laid down with him.  Both were asleep in a matter of minutes.  Aang went to try and convince Jeong Jeong to teach him firebending, which left Katara alone with Jeong Jeong’s followers.</p><p>She wasn’t as nervous as she might have been just a month or so ago.  Many of the men in the little compound were obviously Fire Nation, but they didn’t spark the instinctual hatred they used to.  She wasn’t any warier of them than of their Earth Kingdom comrades, honestly.</p><p>Also, she defied <em> anyone </em> to be afraid of Hiro, with his bright amber-orange eyes and wide smile and terrible puns and long dark hair that looked like he hadn’t introduced it to a comb in his entire nineteen years of life.  Between him and his buddy Xi Wei (platonic soulmate according to Hiro, long-suffering babysitter according to Xi Wei), Katara could close her eyes and easily imagine herself back home, listening to two young warriors trying to out-annoy each other through the winter storms.</p><p>“So,” Hiro said, after a pun so bad that Xi Wei had to get up and walk away from the campfire to collect himself, “I’m not meaning to pry, but you and your friends are kind of an eclectic group, if you don’t mind my saying.”</p><p>Xi Wei smacked Hiro in the back of the head on his way back to his seat.  “Didn’t those feral pygmy pumas who raised you teach you any manners?”</p><p>“Hare-leopards,” Hiro corrected with an unrepentant grin.  “They were feral hare-leopards.  And no, they didn’t.  <em> Feral </em> and <em> manners </em>are pretty mutually exclusive.  Also if the lady’s not offended, you’re not allowed to be offended.”</p><p>“I’m not offended,” Katara assured them, doing her best to keep from laughing at them.  “We are kind of an odd bunch, what with Aang being an Air Nomad and Li.”</p><p>“He’s a cute kid,” Hiro said.  “Where’d you find him?”</p><p>“He found us, actually,” she said.  “He wandered into our camp in the middle of the night.  He was out in the woods all by himself.  We’re pretty sure that he’s a war child.”</p><p>“That kid’s no war child,” Hiro disagreed, shaking his head.  “I saw his eyes earlier, and eyes like that?  You don’t find those on halfbloods.  Not on colony kids, either.  Gold like that’s pure Fire.  Old blood, rooted in the home islands.”</p><p>Xi Wei nodded in agreement.  “Honestly, I haven’t heard of true gold outside the imperial line in <em> years </em>.”</p><p>“We didn’t kidnap one of your princes,” Katara objected defensively.</p><p>“We know,” Hiro said.  “Fire Nation’s only got two of those, and that kid definitely isn’t General Iroh or Prince Zuko.”</p><p>Li mumbled something in his sleep.  It sounded suspiciously like ‘zoo’.</p><p>Katara’s expression immediately softened.  “It doesn’t matter,” she said.  “He’s ours now.”</p><p>“<em> I’m </em> certainly not gonna try and take him,” Hiro assured her with a laugh.  “If you left me alive, it’d just be because you wanted your brother to do me in instead.  That boy’s got ‘papa wolf-deer’ written all over him.”</p><p>“What’s a papa wolf-deer?” Katara asked, then spent the next fifteen minutes learning about some of the animals native to the Fire Nation and how protective male wolf-deer were of their pups.  She returned the favor by explaining the similar South Pole concept of a mama polar goose bear.</p><p>It was, all in all, an enjoyable evening.  Katara felt she could confidently say that this side trip had not been a mistake.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Aang was beginning to think that this side trip had been a mistake.  First it took Avatar Roku to convince Jeong Jeong to teach him at all, then all Jeong Jeong wanted to teach him was how to breathe.  He already knew how to do that!</p><p>Still, he supposed Jeong Jeong knew more about firebending than him, and maybe there was a point to all this breathing stuff.  He just wished Jeong Jeong would explain it to him instead of making him stand weird and try to figure it out himself.</p><p>He kind of understood why he couldn’t learn how to throw fireballs right now, though, since Li had decided he wanted to learn, too, and it probably wasn’t smart to throw fireballs around with a baby nearby.</p><p>Aang cracked one eye open, glancing sideways at where Jeong Jeong was gently correcting Li’s stance, a hand on his back to keep him from falling over, and… okay, honestly, it was super cute.  He was pretty sure Jeong Jeong was even smiling.  He hadn’t been 100% convinced he knew how to smile.  But-</p><p>“Why are you teaching Li?”</p><p>“Why are you talking?” Jeong Jeong asked, but not nearly as sharply as Aang expected.  “Talking is not concentrating.”</p><p>“But he’s not even a firebender.”</p><p>“The spirits are not cruel enough to make us bend in our cradles, Avatar,” Jeong Jeong said.  “It will be years more before you will know if the child is burdened with Fire.  Now <em> concentrate </em>.”</p><p>“But what am I concentrating <em> on </em>?” Aang demanded.</p><p>“The sun.”</p><p>“Sun!” Li agreed (or just echoed).</p><p>“The sun is the greatest source of fire,” Jeong Jeong said, finally actually explaining something for once.  “Yet it is completely in balance-” Li fell over with astonishingly good timing, landing on his butt in the shallow water and laughing with delight.  “-with nature.  Feel its heat.  <em> Concentrate on it. </em>”</p><p>Aang sighed, wistfully watching Li splash for a moment before doing his best to obey.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It turned out Jeong Jeong had been right about Aang not being ready for firebending.  Unfortunately, Aang only realized that when he had to watch Katara run off sobbing between the trees, the sound of her shrieking in pain echoing in his ears so loud he almost couldn’t hear Sokka yelling at him.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Katara found herself kneeling at the riverbank, because of course she did.  Water was a source of comfort to her.  It made her feel safe.  It made her feel powerful.  She’d never had to seek it out at the South Pole, surrounded by it in the form of ice and snow, so she’d never really noticed or given it thought, but of course a hurt waterbender would find water.</p><p>Li tramped his way out of the underbrush and up to her, his expression concerned as he curled one hand in the fabric of her sleeve.</p><p>“I’m okay,” she assured him, smiling through her tears, but he didn’t look convinced.  “Really, I am.”</p><p>“Owie,” Li disagreed, letting go of her sleeve to plop down on the ground.</p><p>“I’ll be okay,” she amended, leaning forward and sinking her hands into the river, letting the coolness of it wash over the burns, not cold enough to numb them but cool enough to pull some of the pain away.  Then <em> all </em> of the pain, as the water around her hands began to glow.  She pulled them back up, staring at them as the glow faded.  The burns were gone, as if they’d never happened in the first place.</p><p>Li cooed, gently patting her miraculously unburned hand as the last of the glow faded, leaving only ordinary water behind.</p><p>“You can heal.”</p><p>Katara jumped slightly, turning to see Jeong Jeong standing at the edge of the trees with a look of almost wonder on his face.</p><p>“The great benders of water sometimes have this ability,” he continued, stepping further into the open.  “I have often wished that I was blessed like you, instead of bearing this burning curse.”</p><p>Katara frowned.  “But you’re a great master,” she said.  “You have powers I’ll never know.”</p><p>“Water brings healing and life,” he said with a sigh, lowering himself to the ground on Li’s other side.  “But fire?  Fire brings only destruction and pain.  Those of us burdened with its care must always be wary of it, lest we be torn apart by it.”</p><p>“That’s… fatalistic,” she commented, absently tugging Li back from the edge of the water.</p><p>Jeong Jeong held out a hand, igniting a tiny flame in the center of his palm.  Katara flinched away from it instinctively.  Li leaned closer, reaching out for it, and pouted when Jeong Jeong closed his fist around the flame, snuffing it.</p><p>“There is a chance the boy will be a firebender when he is older,” Jeong Jeong said while Li took Jeong Jeong’s scarred hand in both his tiny ones, looking under it and turning it over and prying his fingers open, pouting harder when it turned out to be empty.  “It may be best that he remain here when you go.  It would do him good to be among people who would understand his curse,  who could keep him from harming himself or others with his flame.”</p><p>“Li would never,” Katara protested, wrapping her arms protectively around him.</p><p>“Would you not have said the same of the Avatar mere minutes ago?” Jeong Jeong challenged.  “I do not say this to be cruel, young waterbender, but if he begins to spark, can one blessed as yourself even begin to understand?”</p><p>“Water can be dangerous, too,” Katara pointed out.  “The ocean can be as violent and uncaring as any fire.”</p><p>“You do not hold the ocean in your palm every time you bend.”</p><p>“I-”</p><p>“Boat!” Li said excitedly, pointing out over the river just as a blast of fire skimmed the water’s surface, headed straight for them.</p><p>Jeong Jeong was on his feet in an instant, quick aggressive gestures parting the fire so it passed harmlessly to either side of them while Katara scrambled to her own feet, clutching Li in both arms.</p><p>“Go!” Jeong Jeong ordered sharply.  “Find your friends and flee!”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“Hurry!  Take the child to safety!”</p><p>Katara nodded, sparing the trio of boats a quick frightened glance before tightening her hold on Li and taking off into the trees.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Later, after Aang had beaten Zhao, after Jeong Jeong and his followers had vanished into the forest, after Katara was able to consciously use water to heal a burn Aang had gotten in their escape, once the four of them were on Appa once more and safely away, Katara sat back against the edge of the saddle with Li dozing in her lap, tuning out Sokka’s complaining about all the minor injuries she could have healed over the years, and smiled.</p><p>“What are you so happy about?” Sokka asked suspiciously.  “And who said you get to hold your nephew?”</p><p>“Shh,” she said, smiling wider.  “The baby’s sleeping.”</p><p>Sokka made several interesting faces.  “Stop using my parental instincts against me,” he ordered.  Quietly.</p><p>Katara giggled, muffling it behind her hand.</p><p>“Okay, but I gotta ask,” Aang spoke up from Appa’s head.  “<em> Two </em> fishhooks?”</p><p>“He tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook,” Katara explained obligingly.</p><p>Sokka groaned, then remembered <em> another </em> minor injury and was off again.</p><p>Katara went back to tuning him out.  They were an odd little group, sure, but that was just how it was with family.</p><p>Li shifted in his sleep and accidentally elbowed her in the kidney.</p><p>Sometimes, that was how it was with family, too.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Sir?”</p><p>“Yes, Lieutenant?” Iroh asked politely, glancing up from his afternoon tea.  He still took it on the deck, even though Zuko was not there to practice his bending.</p><p>“You have a response,” Jee reported, holding out a scroll bearing the Fire Lord’s seal.</p><p>“Genji has you running his errands now?” Iroh asked with good humor, accepting the scroll and opening it.  “Perhaps we need to assign him fewer duties.”</p><p>Jee, of course, said nothing as Iroh read through the message.  It was not as bad as he’d feared but not as good as he’d hoped, which meant it was much what he’d expected.</p><p>“Well,” Iroh said, allowing himself a sigh, “the Fire Lord has granted me leave to search for my beloved nephew, with only the resources and personnel Prince Zuko was given to search for the Avatar.”  He re-rolled the scroll and slid it up his sleeve.  “Have any of the crew decided they would like to request new postings?”</p><p>“Actually, sir,” Jee said, “We’ve all decided to remain.”</p><p>“All of you?” Iroh asked, surprised.  He’d been certain at least a few of the crew would wish to leave, having no love for Zuko and therefore no wish to chase after him across the globe; he was oddly touched that not even one of them would choose to leave.</p><p>Jee nodded.  “The <em> Wani </em> is yours to command, Prince Iroh,” he said.</p><p>“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Iroh said, nodding his acceptance.  “I assume you have a report on the Avatar’s last known whereabouts?”</p><p>Jee did not smile, but his armor did creak slightly in a way that seemed to indicate he was doing so on the inside as he nodded, producing said report from seemingly nowhere.</p><p>Iroh did smile as he took it, reading it thoroughly for mention of Zuko.  Once assured his nephew was still with the Avatar and still well, he stood.</p><p>“Let us go plot our new course, Lieutenant Jee.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>FenrisJin kindly pointed out to me that Zuko-Li's stuffed turtleduck deserves a name, so I'm now accepting suggestions.  Winner will be decided by the time chapter five goes up.</p><p>As Sokka is the most likely naming culprit, you are actively encouraged to go wild.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Li did <em>not </em>like the cold, they were discovering.  Even bundled up in all the cold-weather <strike>baby</strike> <em>toddler</em> gear the Northern Air Temple residents had been able to spare, he still shivered miserably, abandoning his turtleduck in favor of clinging to an equally-unhappy Momo and pressing close against whoever wasn’t busy in an adorable bid to leech heat.</p><p>The turtleduck was tucked into Sokka's hood, to keep it from getting cold, and they were mostly keeping themselves occupied by arguing over what to name it.  The debate was going slowly, as all Sokka’s suggestions were apparently too complicated or ridiculous, while Katara’s were all too plain and boring and Aang was generally more interested in entertaining Li than in naming his turtleduck.</p><p>“For the last time, Sokka, we are not naming the turtleduck Fluffbutt McStuffins,” Katara insisted with an unjustly put-upon sigh.</p><p>“You know nothing of proper toy naming,” Sokka informed her.</p><p>“It’s dumb and it’s too long for Li to say,” Katara insisted.</p><p>“He can work his way up to it!”</p><p>“We could always just name it Zuko,” Aang spoke up, eliciting an excited ‘zoo!’ from Li.  “I kind of miss him.”</p><p>“Zuko,” Katara repeated, to a repeat background performance.  “The guy who chased us all over trying to capture you.”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“Why would you miss him?”</p><p>“I dunno,” Aang said, shrugging.  “I just do.  We haven’t seen him in a while.”</p><p>“Yes, and I thank the spirits for that every night before I go to sleep,” Katara said.  “Why would we want to be reminded of him?”</p><p>“Also I think the real Prince Jerkbender would be highly offended at having a turtleduck named after him,” Sokka added.  “Which actually makes me kind of like the idea.”</p><p>Katara paused thoughtfully, obviously imagining Prince Zuko’s reaction to the hypothetical swiping of his name for a toy turtleduck.  “Okay, we can put that one in the ‘maybe’ pile,” she conceded.</p><p>“What do you think?” Aang asked Li, who had contributed zero suggestions so far on account of being two.  “Know any good names?”</p><p>“Ten.”</p><p>“You’re not allowed to name things after numbers you can’t count to, kiddo,” Sokka said.</p><p>“Ten,” Li insisted, pouting so hard that he flopped over backwards and had to be pushed upright again.</p><p>“Maybe we can work a ten in there somewhere,” Katara suggested, tugging Li’s hood back into place.</p><p>“Yeah,” Aang agreed.  “Maybe we can combine some of our ideas.  Give the guy a full name like some sort of fancy turtleduck noble.”</p><p>“If you want fancy names, you came to the right place,” Sokka said, grinning.  “How about-”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Katara, please let me at least <em> make </em> the suggestion before you shoot it down.”</p><p>“Fine.  What’s your suggestion?”</p><p>“Lunchmeat von Ducklesworth.”</p><p>“<em> No </em>.”</p><p>“Stir-fry the Conqueror.”</p><p>“No, Sokka.”</p><p>“Ducky Momo.”</p><p>The glare Momo shot him was <em> venomous </em>.</p><p>“Duck Duck Roast.”</p><p>“Sokka, if you’re hungry just eat something.”</p><p>“None of those have a Ten in them,” Aang pointed out helpfully.</p><p>“Everyone’s a critic,” Sokka complained, sighing.  “Anything else?  Pile ‘em all on right now, get it over with.”</p><p>“It’s Li’s turtleduck, he needs to be able to pronounce it,” Katara said.  “Or at least shorten it to something not-terrible that he can pronounce.”</p><p>“Nothing that implies we intend to eat it,” Aang added.  “I also think he should have a title.”</p><p>“So our rules are: must contain a Ten, must not be food, this ‘duck is titled nobility, Prince Jerkbender’s name is a bonus, must be shorten-able to Li-pronouncing lengths.  That cover it?”</p><p>“We’ll let you know,” Katara said with a smirk.  He hated it when she smirked.  It usually meant snow in his parka and/or pants.</p><p>Sokka huffed, settling down to think.  He was going to give his kiddo’s turtleduck a name so awesome even Katara would be able to appreciate it, or he was going to die trying.</p><p>Aang hopped back up to Appa’s head to check in with their weary ride, while Katara deposited Li in Sokka’s lap and sat back smiling like she was just enjoying the quiet or something ridiculous.</p><p>"I've got it!" Sokka exclaimed after several minutes of intense thought. "Henceforth, this turtleduck shall be known as Lord Admiral Zuko TenTen Duckington the Fourth!  Zu Ten for short."</p><p>"What happened to the first three Zuko TenTen Duckingtons?" Katara asked curiously.</p><p>"Nothing you can prove."</p><p>Katara snorted, turning to the owner of the turtleduck in question.  “What do you think, Li?  Is Zu Ten a good name?”</p><p>Li smiled up at her.  “Zu Ten!”</p><p>“Gentlemen, I think we have a winner.”</p><p>Sokka smirked smugly at her.  Katara stuck her tongue out at him.  Sokka would have responded in kind, except a sheet of ice erupted up out of the water directly in front of Appa, who had to bank sharply to avoid it, almost dumping them out of the saddle.</p><p>More ice jumped from the water to attack them.  Appa spun and dodged like the magnificent but exhausted original airbender he was, struggling to gain altitude.</p><p>Another spear of ice slammed up at them, snagging Appa and sending him tumbling through the air so violently that Sokka nearly lost his grip on Li, slamming sideways into the water and soaking them all.  More ice formed around them as Appa rolled upright, trapping them in the water, and their attackers finally showed themselves.</p><p>Their attackers were waterbenders.  Multiple boatloads of waterbenders, presumably from the Northern Water Tribe.</p><p>Li whimpered softly, pressing his soaked face into Sokka’s soaked coat.  Sokka knew intellectually that the Northern Water Tribe had no way of knowing they’d just attacked a toddler who couldn’t even swim, but emotionally the only reason he wasn’t attacking them back was because he was too busy trying to comfort Li.</p><p>Katara did not have that restraint, and she <em> did </em>have her ‘punishing injustices towards Li’ face on.  Much as he’d like to see her crack an iceberg on them, it probably wasn’t a good idea to let her.</p><p>“Hey, Katara,” he said.  “Li’s soaked.  Think you can help him out?”</p><p>Katara immediately went soft and gooey, turning toward them and obediently bending the water out of Li’s clothes, doing Sokka’s as well without even needing to be asked.  “Is he okay?”</p><p>“I think so,” Sokka said.  “Just scared.  He’ll be okay once we’re on some solid ice.”</p><p>Katara nodded.  “I guess we found the Northern Water Tribe.”</p><p>“They better have some traditional Northern Water Tribe apologies for us,” Sokka replied.  “Or at least a hot meal.”</p><p>Katara smiled and turned around, watching Aang greet their ambushers enthusiastically.  “They better,” she agreed.</p><p>There were some apologies, though not nearly enough to earn Sokka’s forgiveness, followed by an escort to the city.  Because the Northern Water Tribe had a whole entire city.  It was all very impressive, Sokka was sure, but he was mostly focused on calming Li down after their ordeal, which had to have been at least fifty times scarier to him than it had been to the rest of them.</p><p>It had to have been fate that, when Sokka finally got Li calmed down enough to look elsewhere, the first thing he saw was an ornately-carved boat floating in the opposite direction, a lush purple anorak and sparkling pale blue eyes and long white hair and the most beautiful face he’d ever seen.  She didn’t even look at him as they passed each other, but she still managed to steal his heart on her way by.</p><p>“Wow.”</p><p>“It’s beautiful, huh?” Katara asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” Sokka said, only halfway hearing her.  “She is.”</p><p>Li gurgled happily in his arms.  Sokka decided to take that as approval.</p><p>They were finally led to solid ice; Appa was whisked away to be pampered while a man who had to be the Chief stepped forward and bowed to Aang.</p><p>“Welcome to Agna Qel'a, Avatar,” he said.  “We are honored to have you.”</p><p>“Honored to be here,” Aang said brightly, bowing as well.  “Your city’s amazing.”</p><p>The Chief inclined his head in Chiefly acknowledgement.  The two kept with the small talk, while Li made tired-fussy noises in Sokka’s ear.  Now that all the excitement was over, the poor kid was probably ready to drop.</p><p>“Psst,” Sokka whispered to Katara, trying not to attract too much attention.  “I think it’s naptime.”</p><p>“If your child is tired, young lady,” the Chief said, “one of the women can show you a place to care for them properly.”</p><p>“Um… excuse me?  Whose hip is this child on, exactly?” Sokka asked, gesturing with his free hand at Li, comfortably and obviously propped on <em> his </em> hip.  “ <em> I’m </em> the one who’s been raising him, and you’re just <em> giving </em> all the credit to my sister because she happens to be a girl?  I am a single father at fifteen, and you’re ignoring all my hard work!  I am <em> offended </em>!”</p><p>“‘Fended!” Li added very helpfully from the depths of his parka, throwing his hands up.</p><p>“Yes, thank you, Li,” Sokka said.  “See, you’ve offended my son, too, are you happy now?”</p><p>It appeared that Sokka had managed to strike the entire Northern Water Tribe speechless.</p><p>Quite a feat, if you asked him.</p><p>Well, maybe not the <em> entire </em> tribe.  There was a stifled giggle, and the beautiful girl who’d stolen Sokka’s heart not five minutes ago stepped forward with a smile.</p><p>“Forgive our thoughtless assumptions, honored guest,” she said with a slight bow.  “Your son must be tired from your ordeal: allow me to show you to your quarters.”</p><p>Li leaned forward, making grabby mittens in the beautiful girl’s direction.  “Moon,” he said, almost in wonder, which visibly startled several people, including Miss Pretty.</p><p>“What a remarkable little boy,” she commented, her smile softening.  “Yes, I <em> have </em>been touched by the Moon Spirit.  How clever you are to notice.  My name is Yue.”</p><p>“Moon,” Li repeated firmly, then yawned and buried his face in the fur of Sokka’s hood.</p><p>“Naptime, little guy?” Sokka asked, laughing when all he got in answer was another yawn.  “Yeah, it’s naptime.”</p><p>Yue smiled.  “This way,” she said, starting off and gesturing for Sokka to follow.</p><p>She led him sedately down a few streets and around some corners to a house that looked big enough to fit the entire Southern Water Tribe in it.  She held the door open for him, then directed him to the sleeping rooms with a smile.</p><p>“Thanks,” Sokka said with a smile of his own, poking Li.  “Still with me, buddy?”</p><p>Li yawned again and nodded, straightening up and rubbing at his eye with one hand, which knocked back his hood, and their pretty hostess gasped sharply.</p><p>Sokka reacted on instinct, putting himself between her and the door so she couldn’t run off to summon a mob on them.  “Wait!”</p><p>She was staring at Li, but more in confusion than anger or fear, and she didn’t try to push past him.  So far going better than he’d feared.</p><p>“Wait,” he repeated.  “Just let me explain, okay?”</p><p>She looked up at him, then back at Li.  “Why have you brought a child of Fire into our city?”</p><p>“Yeah, emphasis on the <em> child </em> part,” Sokka said.  “He’s <em> two </em>.  At the oldest.  Okay?  He’s harmless and innocent and the only other options we had were leaving him to die in the woods or leaving him with people who would’ve killed him.”</p><p>“But-” Yue said, biting delicately at her lip.  “He’s Fire.”</p><p>“<em> He’s a kid, </em>” Sokka said firmly.  “And he’s a lot more scared of you than you are of him.”</p><p>She jumped slightly, her expression turning slightly stricken.  “I- ”</p><p>“It’s not you specifically,” Sokka assured her.  “He’s just… he’s really good at telling when people don’t like him.  And really scared of people who don’t like him.”</p><p>“Oh,” she said, still stricken-looking, but… tighter.  He didn’t have to spell it out for her, at least; she was as smart as she was pretty.  “Forgive me.”</p><p>“Totally forgiven,” Sokka assured her, relaxing.  After a few seconds Li relaxed, too, yawning again.  “We’re working on naptime, buddy, I promise.  Do you want Zu Ten?”</p><p>Li nodded, reaching back into Sokka’s hood and clumsily digging out his turtleduck.  “Nap.”</p><p>Sokka smiled in spite of himself.  “We <em> know </em> it’s been a long day if you’re <em> asking </em> for a nap,” he commented.  Li yawned in his face in reply.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Need to go potty?”</p><p>Li shook his head.  Sokka took him at his word, since Li was actually really good at potty alerts.  He got Li settled, blinking sleepily at him from under a pile of furs with Zu Ten tucked up against his chin; it took him less than a minute to fall all the way asleep.</p><p>“He’s adorable,” Yue commented.  “I apologize again for my reaction.”</p><p>“Still forgiven,” Sokka said, smiling a not-at-all sappy smile down at Li.  “And yeah, he really is.”</p><p>“You’re quite a doting parent,” she noted with a smile of her own that faded after a moment.  “I will have to inform my father about this,” she said apologetically.</p><p>“And your dad is…?”</p><p>“Chief Arnook.”</p><p>Okay, yeah, the Chief probably would need to be informed.  “Is there any way you can, like… bring him here?  So I can explain in private and hopefully not get us kicked out?”</p><p>Yue nodded.  “I will do my best,” she assured him.  A lifetime of experience with Katara told him her best would be more than enough, even if she had to drag her dad across the city by his beard.</p><p>“Thanks,” he said.  “Should I wait here?”</p><p>“That would probably be best.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.”</p><p>“Looking forward to it,” Sokka said without thinking then blushed furiously, but Yue just smiled and swept out of the room without a word.  “Buddy,” he informed Li, “I have got it bad.”</p><p>Li snored in response.  Somehow, it made Sokka feel a bit better.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Music Night was as time-honored as a tradition could be on a tour that had thus far lasted slightly less than three years with a crew as ever-changing as the wind.  It had started as an attempt to convince Zuko to mingle with the crew, but had quickly taken on a life of its own.  Iroh was of the private opinion that this was mainly due to the fact that Genji and Dekku viewed it as their date night, and would allow nothing to rob them of it.</p><p>Even after Zuko’s odd spirit encounter and de-aging, Music Night continued on schedule, and the crew had spent most of the evening on pleasant music and a light bit of dancing, when a shadow crossed the moon.  A rather distasteful shadow who went by the name of Zhao.</p><p>“Good evening, General,” Zhao said with a smile he likely meant to seem polite, but which to Iroh seemed to be more of a smirk.  “I do hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”</p><p>“Not at all, Commander,” Iroh said with a disarming harmless old man smile of his own, tucking his hands into his sleeves.</p><p>“Admiral,” Zhao corrected him with slight annoyance.</p><p>“Of course, of course,” Iroh replied.  “Ah, the ambitions of youth.  Time does fly: it seems like only last week you’d just made Captain!”</p><p>“Indeed.”  Zhao’s distaste and contempt tugged at the edges of his expression.  Iroh’s satisfaction remained without outward indication.  “Unfortunately, I am here on official business.”</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>Zhao cleared his throat.  “The crew of this vessel are to be recruited for an expedition to the North Pole.  My apologies, General,” he added unapologetically.  “I’m certain this will cut into your… personal project.”</p><p>“Nonsense,” Iroh assured him, heaving a sigh.  “I am not the tracker my nephew is, I’m afraid, and we have found no leads recently.”</p><p>“That’s too bad,” Zhao said, doing a poor job of hiding his smug glee at Iroh’s apparent failure to locate Zuko.</p><p>“Could I perhaps trouble you to allow an old man to tag along, Admiral?” Iroh asked.  “They do say that a change is as good as a rest.”</p><p>And if Iroh’s guess was correct, the Avatar was either already at the North Pole or would be arriving there shortly.  Zhao’s little invasion was a perfect opportunity to catch up to them, and also to ensure Zhao did no more harm to the Northern Water Tribe than absolutely necessary.</p><p>“I would be honored to have you, General,” Zhao hastened to assure him with a bow.  “I had hoped I might convince you to allow me the benefit of your wisdom in the arts of war, but I would never dream of asking you to forsake Prince Zuko.”</p><p>“Your sensitivity does you credit, Admiral,” Iroh managed to say with a completely straight face.  “When do we sail?”</p><p>“On the morning tide, General,” Zhao said.</p><p>“Very good,” Iroh said.  “Would you like to stay a while?  It’s Music Night.”</p><p>“I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid I have other business to attend to,” Zhao said with a decent attempt at not sounding desperate to escape.</p><p>“A pity,” Iroh said.  “But such is the nature of command.  I do not envy you the workload.  Good night, Admiral.  Rest well.”</p><p>“Rest well, General,” Zhao replied, bowing, and fled.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Li was in a much better mood when he woke up from his nap.  He spent most of the afternoon trying to escape to explore the city and stopping to pet every owl-hawk and seal-turtle he saw, which was very Li-like behavior that meant his scare from earlier was forgotten.</p><p>Once night fell, the obligatory ‘yay, the Avatar’s back’ feast began.  It was also Yue’s birthday party, which was neat timing.</p><p>Dinner came with a waterbending show that thankfully kept most of Aang and Katara’s attention, because some kind soul had managed to arrange things so that Sokka and Li were sitting next to Yue.</p><p>“So,” Sokka said, aiming for casual.  “Happy birthday.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Yue said with a beautiful smile.</p><p>Sokka smiled back.  The moment was slightly ruined when Li shoved a sea prune in Sokka’s mouth, but it made Yue laugh, so it was worth the fact that it made Katara laugh, too.</p><p>They made semi-awkward small talk through the feast, interrupted by Li deciding it was <em> his </em> turn to feed people around here, up to and including the very pretty actual princess sitting next to him.  Luckily, Yue thought it was adorable, and Sokka even managed to score himself a date at some point in the evening.</p><p>The feast began to wind down earlier than Sokka expected, with men and teenagers wandering off by ones and twos until it was just Yue, Sokka, and a number of women who all seemed to have at least one kid under the age of five attached to them.</p><p>Li, as usual once the sun was down, was pretty content to sit in Sokka’s lap and fiddle with his clothes.  He didn’t seem like he was actually tired yet, so Sokka stayed where he was.</p><p>After a few minutes of mom-talk washing over them, two of the kids separated from the pack and toddled their way over, curiosity written all over their chubby little faces.  Li immediately turned and buried his face in Sokka’s chest, whining softly.</p><p>“Aw, it’s okay, buddy,” Sokka assured him, patting Li gently on the back.  “They just wanna meet you.”</p><p>Li peeked up at him doubtfully.</p><p>“You’re a very interesting kiddo,” Sokka informed him.  “And I’m right here.  I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, okay?”</p><p>Li peeked over his shoulder at the other kids, then back up at Sokka, who smiled encouragingly down at him.  After another moment he sat up a little straighter, waving shyly.</p><p>The slightly larger of his visitors waved back enthusiastically.  “Hi!”</p><p>“Hi,” Li said.  He dug Zu Ten out of his lap and held him up.  “Zu Ten.”</p><p>The smaller tot went wide-eyed, probably never having seen a turtleduck before, stuffed or otherwise, and reached out.</p><p>“Tarkik,” one of the women said in a warning tone.  “We ask before we touch.”</p><p>Tarkik froze, blinking.  “P’ease?” he asked.</p><p>Li hesitated a moment, then nodded.  Tarkik immediately started petting the thing like a real turtleduck, cooing.</p><p>The woman who’d spoken smiled, shifting a bit closer.  “Those are my twins,” she said.  “Tarkik and Keeli.  I’m Tiya.”</p><p>“Sokka,” Sokka said.  “This is Li and Zu Ten.  Nice to meet you.”</p><p>“He’s very sweet,” Tiya commented.</p><p>“And cute,” another woman piped up, herding one of the other kids over.  This one was even younger than Li and obviously still working on the whole walking thing but not letting that slow him down.  “I’m Nuwa and this bundle of unseemly energy is Nuktuk.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you,” Sokka repeated, leaning back on one arm and keeping the other wrapped loosely around Li while he and Zu Ten made friends in his lap.</p><p>If someone had told him before he left the South Pole that he’d wind up at the North Pole surrounded by moms and princesses and actually enjoying both parts of that situation, he would have laughed in their faces, and/or accused them of having midnight sun madness.  Yet here he sat, princess beside him, moms all around, just… enjoying being here.</p><p>It was weird, but not bad.  He could get used to this.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Despite Zhao’s bumbling attempts to make it otherwise, the <em> Wani </em> set out on the morning tide with her full crew complement.  Iroh stood on the bridge in his role as acting Captain, politely staying out of the way to allow the actual sailors to do their jobs.  He was an army man at heart, and didn’t feel it his place to give orders to those who knew better than he.</p><p>Lieutenant Jee, faithful and full of expressive creaks as always, stood by his side.  His creaks today were disapproving and apprehensive, and matched his sour expression.</p><p>“Copper for your thoughts, Lieutenant?” Iroh asked, once they’d reached open water.</p><p>Jee sighed.  “There’s no way this is going to end well, sir,” he said in as neutral a tone as humanly possible.</p><p>“Likely not,” Iroh agreed.  “But Prince Zuko is or will be at the North Pole, and I will not chance Zhao finding him there.  This is but another facet of the hunt for Prince Zuko.”</p><p>Jee nodded wordlessly, but he could not quite hide his disdain at the mention of Zuko.</p><p>“If you did not wish to chase my nephew, Lieutenant,” Iroh couldn’t help but ask, “why did you choose to remain on a mission to do just that?”</p><p>“If I may speak frankly, General?”</p><p>“Always, Lieutenant,” Iroh said with an encouraging nod.</p><p>“Sir, I have absolutely no idea why you have so much faith in Prince Zuko,” Jee said.  “And I intend to stick with you until I figure it out.”</p><p>Iroh smiled in spite of himself, turning to the others on the bridge.  “Is this a widely-shared sentiment?” he asked, earning a few nods here and there.</p><p>“One ship’s as good as another, sir,” Crewman Teruko said with a shrug.  “And you’re a better commander than most.  Reason enough to hang around, if you ask me.”</p><p>“I’ve got a kid brother his Highness’s age,” Pikeman Kazuto admitted.  “I’d no more turn my back on the prince than I would Akira.”</p><p>“Honestly?” Helmsman Kyo spoke up, “I just wanna see baby Prince Zuko.”</p><p>Iroh smiled wider.  “I hope that you manage a peek or two,” he confided.  “My nephew, in my entirely biased opinion, was an adorable child at that age.”</p><p>Helmsman Kyo grinned.  “Can’t wait to see it, sir.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks so much for all your great name suggestions, guys!  As evidenced by the beginning of this chapter, I had a heck of a time choosing and eventually had to resort to combining a bunch.  Hopefully it meets with as much approval from you guys as it does from Zuko-Li.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The <i>Wani</i> and related non-canon crew are borrowed from <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/pseuds/MuffinLance/works">MuffinLance</a>, who is also to blame for me being in your fandom in the first place.  Go read everything she's ever written if you haven't already.</p><p>(To be clear: Teruko's name is a nod to the one in <i>Embers</i>, but they are not the same character.  I'm using Muffin's OC, not Vathara's.)</p><p>I have <a href="https://praying-to-agni-at-midnight.tumblr.com/">a tumblr</a> at which I can be poked, so feel free to drop by and poke away.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>